They’re back on track

Thursday

May 3, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 3, 2007 at 3:15 AM

The Woburn High girls lacrosse team knew it was going to have its work cut out for it on Monday afternoon.

The Tanners — a first-year varsity program — were set to square off against perennial powerhouse Winchester High at Lynch Field on what turned out to be a breezy but comfortable day. Year in and year out, the Sachems produce winning teams that always venture far into the state tournament.

Michael Liuzza

The Woburn High girls lacrosse team knew it was going to have its work cut out for it on Monday afternoon.

The Tanners — a first-year varsity program — were set to square off against perennial powerhouse Winchester High at Lynch Field on what turned out to be a breezy but comfortable day. Year in and year out, the Sachems produce winning teams that always venture far into the state tournament.

But the Tanners also knew that the Sachems were coming off a heartbreaking, 14-13 loss to Duxbury. Winchester doesn’t lose very often, and when they do the end result for the next opposing team often isn’t pretty.

The Sachems did end up taking care of business, winning by a final score of 16-6. But the Tanners showed flashes of brilliance, at times looking like a veteran club instead of first-year varsity squad.

“We just need to continue to play hard,” said Tanner head coach Courtney O’Sullivan. “The girls on the team know the history of Winchester and what kind of a program they have, and the girls want to get to that level. But for a first-year varsity program, I think we played well and I think we’re doing well.”

Meanwhile, Winchester was happy to get back on track. The Sachems had the opportunity to work on a number of things against the Tanners, and Winchester’s skipper hopes her team will pick up steam heading into the second half of the season.

“It was important for us to bounce back, and that’s what we did,” said Sachem head coach Suzanne Ontso. “We knew coming into this game that Woburn had very good athletes on their team. I thought we played well, and today we had the opportunity to work on some things. But we still need to focus, and we need to learn how to play quality lacrosse for 50 minutes.”

For Woburn, Colleen Callahan netted a hat-trick, and teammate Brittney Murphy added two goals. Liz Brease chipped in with a goal of her own, and Shawna Walsh contributed an assist.

The Sachems started off the day with a bang, netting three goals in the first minute of play. It could have been worse for the Tanners had it not been for the solid goaltending of Taylor Carpenter, who made several spectacular saves for the visiting team.

At the 18:22 mark of the first half, Woburn got itself on the board, making the score 3-1. But the Sachems proved to be too strong, netting six more goals to Woburn’s one, and the half ended with Winchester leading, 9-2.

The second half opened with a Tanner goal, but the Sachems answered by scoring the next three. Woburn went on the attack several times, but the Sachems defense, including netminder Chelsea Osborne, stopped Woburn from making this a close game.

“We need to work on some of the little things, like draws, pickups and controlling ground balls,” said O’Sullivan. “Skill-wise, we have some brand new players on the team, and everyone is going to get better.”

Winchester is now 5-3 overall, while Woburn is 3-4.

Previous action

Winchester had a rough go last week, losing two games while winning one.

The Sachems lost a nail-bitter to Duxbury, 14-13, last week.

Osborne made some outstanding saves for the Sachems in the loss.

“This was definitely a stronger game (than the Westwood contest), as everyone stepped up,” said Ontso. “The game could have gone either way, and I think we needed a game like this to push us. The girls responded with an amazing second half. Games like this will only make us stronger in June.”

Collins led the way with four goals, and Audrey Joy (three assists), D’Amico and Martignetti netted two goals apiece.

Collins came through with another big game against Westwood, but on this day the Sachems struggled, and would up losing the game, 20-9.

Westwood opened the second half by going on a monstrous seven-goal run, and that proved to be the difference.

“You just can’t let one of the strongest teams in the state go on a seven-goal run,” said Ontso. “Our transition game was off and it cost us dearly.”

Collins was a bright spot for Winchester, recording five points (three goals, two assists).

The lone Sachem victory came against Wakefield, an easy 19-4 victory.

A total of 10 different players scored for the Sachems in this one. Leading the way was Sullivan, who netted five goals while dishing off two assists. Riva, Collins, D’Amico and Bratt all scored two goals apiece. Tucci, Joy, Martignetti, Tavener and Katie MacDonald added one goal each.

Osborne recorded seven saves on the day, and Carly Litchfield made four.